The Santa Clause 4: The Welcome Clause
by Fairyhaven13
Summary: Fiona and Bernard return from vacation to find the North Pole in chaos, with Jack Frost at the center of it all. Not only that, but apparently there is a new "Welcome Clause" that has come into effect, meaning all seasonal sprites like Jack and Fiona must become part of the Council of Legendary Figures. Enter the Summer and Autumn Sprites! Set after the third movie.
1. Prologue: A Foreboding Vacation

**This is my new Santa Clause 3 fanfiction, starring Crimsongypsy's character Fiona! She owns her. She also owns Angel, the Spirit of Christmas, and Terrance the Boogie Man. And Disney owns the Santa Clause. I only own my two sprites I made. I hope saying that doesn't spoil anything.**

**And, if any of you are like me and don't like Jack's outfit at the end of the movie, you'll be very happy with my story! At least, I hope.**

**One last note: This first chapter is before the third movie starts. Just keep that in mind.**

**ON WITH THE SHOW!**

Prologue: A Foreboding Vacation

"Come _on,_ Bernard! It won't be that bad!"

Fiona, the red haired Spring Sprite, tugged on Bernard's sleeve, desperately trying to pull him towards the sled. The beret-wearing head elf pulled back the other direction just as desperately, glaring at the girl on the other end of his arm.

"Oh, yes it will! Do you think Curtis will seriously be able to handle the North Pole on his own?"

Behind him, a shorter elf holding a clipboard pushed his glasses up his nose and gave Bernard an offended look. "Hey, I'm getting better! Might I remind you, I was able to run the whole factory by myself with only a little supervision last year, while you were off getting Fiona and Angelica back from the Boogie Man!"

Bernard and Fiona both shuddered, remembering when the dreaded Boogie Man had captured Fiona the year before. Boogie Men had the ability to sap other magical creatures' power, and one named Terrance had put Angelica, the sweet childlike Spirit of Christmas, on the run, attempting to harness the massive amount of power the Seasonal girl had. When Fiona and Bernard found Angelica and rescued her, Terrance had instead set his sights on capturing Fiona. Fiona was the sprite of Spring, and therefore had a lot of power herself. It had taken a lot of mishaps, escapades, and two epic fights to defeat the Boogie Man and seal him in a light stone specially made to trap the energy Boogie Men had inside. Everything had turned out alright in the end, and as a plus Bernard and Fiona had realized how much they liked each other and had gotten together. For all the elves, it was about time- Bernard and Fiona had been edging that direction for centuries.

Fiona snapped out of the memories first. "And... and I'll make sure Scott watches Curtis to keep him from messing anything up!" Curtis glared, but Bernard half-smirked. Fiona and Bernard both new Curtis had a knack for being a bit flustered and rushed and... well, making a general mess of things.

Bernard quickly stopped himself from completing the grin that was forming on his lips. "That's not good enough. I need to be here to oversee things!"

Fiona stopped tugging and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, come on, Bernard. Don't tell me you're doubting Santa Claus. _The_ Santa Claus. What happened to Scott being the best Santa you've ever had?" Scott Calvin was the most recent Santa who had come to the North Pole. He had accidentally surprised the last Santa off of his roof around ten years back, causing that Santa to fade away and Scott to become the next in line. This "Santa Clause" was sealed when Scott put on Santa's suit. All the elves said he was the best Santa so far- the nicest, most creative, and, surprisingly, the most heroic.

"Well, he is, but..." Bernard trailed off, trying to think of something to say. Now it was Curtis's turn to smirk. Bernard glared at him, then continued, "How do you even know I'll _like_ Australia?"

Fiona smiled and dashed to the sled, coming back with a large map. "Here!" She yelled, shoving the map in Bernard's face. "Look! Australia's got tons of places to visit. There are jungles and beaches and forests and plains and, not to mention, it's gorgeous and _not_ snowy this time of year. When was the last time you were out of the snow?" Bernard opened his mouth, and Fiona interrupted. "_Besides_ last year."

Bernard huffed. "Why exactly doesn't that count?"

"Because... I don't know... _we were being chased by the Boogie Man!"_ Fiona huffed back at the elf. "I don't really count that as _relaxing, _Bernard."

"We ice skated..." Bernard defended.

"Right before I almost froze to death," Fiona countered. "Come _on_ Bernard! Everything will be fine!"

Bernard hesitated. He looked back and forth between Fiona, who was giving him the Puppy Dog look, to Curtis, who was giving him that annoying guilt-building Please Trust Me look, to the sled, stacked with a magically filled bag which Fiona had taken the time to pack without asking Bernard for permission first. He glanced over at the door to the sled chamber, trying to think of a way out of the situation.

Fiona's Puppy Dog look turned more intense. "Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase, Bernard!" she squealed. "Please don't try to find a way to get back to your Obsessive Compulsive duties, for once?"

Bernard frowned deeply. "Obsessive Compulsive? Really?"

Curtis looked confused as well. "Can elves even get that?"

Fiona sighed exasperatedly. "I don't know! All I know is that Bernard works too hard!"

"I do _not_."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do _too!"_

_"Fiona, I do not!"_

"Guys!" Curtis yelled. Fiona and Bernard both looked at him. Curtis was gasping a little bit, overwhelmed with the argument. He looked at the surprised faces aimed at him and straightened himself up, trying to look important. "Let's see what Santa thinks."

Bernard relaxed a bit. "For once you have a good suggestion, Curtis." He looked over at Fiona, who wore a look of surprise. "What?"

Fiona blinked. Bernard face-palmed. "Don't tell me. You forgot to ask Santa about the vacation."

The Spring Sprite blushed and used one hand to rub the back of her neck. "Um... oops."

"You're impossible, you know that?" Bernard started for the door. Curtis quickly followed.

Fiona stood still for a moment, looking embarrassed and a bit miffed. Then she ran after the two elves, shouting, "Hey, I was having enough trouble thinking of a way to convince _you_ to go with me! I had no time to think about asking anyone's permission! Wait for me!" She ran through the ornately carved red-and-gold sled chamber door and out into the similarly decorated elvish hallway.

About an hour or so later, Bernard, Curtis, and Fiona were sitting outside of the kitchen in comfortable looking Christmas style velvet chairs. They all looked very bored. Bernard impatiently drummed on his leg. Curtis flipped through multiple pages on his clipboard, then pulled out a silver pocket-watch that had a snowflake imprinted on it's shiny exterior. He checked the time, grimaced, then went back to flipping pages. Bernard kept giving him annoyed glances as he flipped. Fiona didn't pay attention to either of them, too busy playing with her braided red hair and looping vines and leaves from her dress around her finger.

Normally, Fiona wore something simple over the holidays, like a green sweater and black sweatpants, but due to her vacation plans she had decided to keep her usual outfit of a deep forest green dress made of leaves. It had vines and flowers twisted through it, and twine around the belt, with little berries poking between the twine strands. The dress had leaves up to the top of her chest, where vines completely took over and twisted around her arms and up her neck, tapering into delicate curlicues at the tips of her sleeves and collar. It ended at the bottom edge of her knees, where twisted and braided vines went down her legs and connected to green, leafy flats with wooden soles. She wore bracelets, earrings, and a necklace made of flowers, berries, and twine that matched her belt.

Bernard was wearing his usual red-and-gold striped shirt, with intricate designs in the golden stripes. He had a gold jingle bell necklace on, along with a gold belt. His pants were golden-brown, and so was his tasseled satchel, which had a flower and green bits of sphere-tipped ribbon on the front. He wore black boots with brown leather tops and black laces, and, of course, his trademark beret with a gold button clipped on.

Curtis wore a creamy white pinstripe button-down shirt, with gold striped suspenders attached to red-and-black striped pants, along with black boots. He appeared to be fond of stripes. He also wore a polka-dot red neck scarf and gold rimmed glasses. He kept frantically flipping through his clipboard until Bernard finally reached over and took the clipboard away from him. Curtis glared and sighed.

"How much longer are they going to be in there again?" he asked.

Bernard rolled his eyes, obviously having answered this several times already. "Santa said that the Council of Legendary Figures was only going to have their meeting for at most, an hour and a half. They should be out any minute now."

"I hope so," Fiona commented. "I'm really itching for some cocoa right about now." At the moment she had her back turned to the door, and she was fiddling with some of the vines on her ankle, trying to make them look right. Consequently, she was sent launching out of her chair screaming and in a flurry of leaves when the door slammed open, right into the back of her seat. Bernard immediately got up and helped her off the ground.

"You okay?" he brushed away some of the leaves that had fallen into her eyes.

"Perfectly fine," Fiona answered, giving Bernard a sweet smile. A bit of mischief still glinted in her eyes. "Now I can tell Scott to make you come with me."

Bernard groaned, but smiled. "Or I could tell him to make you settle down."

Fiona gasped and put her hands on her face in mock-horror. "Me? Settle down? What is this world coming to?!"

Scott, who had been staring from the doorway, quickly came over to the couple. "Fiona, I am so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I didn't see you there. Are you alright?"

Curtis dashed out from behind him. "I believe she already answered that." He took a purposeful stance in front of Scott and adjusted his glasses. "And now, sir, if your business is taken care of, we have some other very important business to attend to." He flashed a meaningful look behind him.

"Yes, yes we do," Scott replied, but he wasn't talking about Bernard and Fiona. He didn't even notice the look Curtis was making. In fact, he looked very stressed. He wasn't wearing his red cap, his normally fluffy white beard was frizzed, and his red suit was rumpled. He had bags under his eyes. Curtis, Bernard, and Fiona noticed this and started to look concerned- it got worse for Bernard and Curtis when Jack Frost walked out of the kitchen behind Scott, grinning.

Jack Frost was the Winter Sprite. As such, he was very frozen, cold, and mischievous. He had pale skin, ice blue eyes, and white hair that stuck up in spikes and was, according to him, freeze dried. He wore a dark blue pinstripe suit, with a gray and light blue pinstripe vest underneath and a white shirt underneath that. All over the suit were spots and scrapes of ice attached. His smile was very cold and, to Bernard and Curtis, foreboding. However, it was only familiar to Fiona, who was good friends with Jack and not affected by the suspicious look in his eyes. She actually knew him well enough that she should have noticed it. She had a habit of giving him the benefit of the doubt, though. This was especially since the year before, he had helped Bernard to save her from the Boogie Man. He had a heart somewhere in that frozen chest, but right now he wasn't showing it.

"Why, hello, my dear Fiona." Jack's smile was only slightly less cold for Fiona. It froze over again when he turned to the other two elves. "Bernard," he greeted coldly. "... other elf."

"It's _Curtis_," Curtis huffed.

"Yes, yes, whatever," Jack rolled his eyes. "I suppose I'll have to know that if I'm going to be staying here, won't I?"

The elves' eyes practically popped out of their heads. "What?!" Bernard sputtered. "But, you did last year! You can't do it this year!" He turned to Santa, all thoughts about a vacation forgotten. "Santa, I absolutely refuse to let him stay!"

Scott sighed. He knew this was going to happen. "You don't really have a choice, Bernard. It was a Council decision. Sort of community service for Jack to keep him from getting kicked out of the Council for all his trouble he's been causing. He has to help out with the elves."

"And what delightful little things they are!" Jack exclaimed, giving Bernard and Curtis an even colder smile.

Fiona grinned and hopped up to Jack. "Oh, that's great! Now you can keep out of trouble, and Curtis will have extra help for when Bernard and I go on vacation!"

Scott and Jack turned to stare at Fiona. "What vacation?" Scott asked.

Fiona blushed. "Well, um, you see..."

Bernard pushed in front of her. "Fiona's got it in her head that I'm going to go on vacation with her to Australia this year. It's out of the question, but she won't listen to me! Tell her that I can't go, especially with _him_ staying here again this year!" He cocked his head towards Jack, who only smirked at the comment. Santa nodded and sighed again. He turned to Fiona with an exhausted expression.

"Yet another item to add of my list of things to deal with. I'm sorry, Fiona, but I'm really stressed out right now."

Jack put on mock-sympathy and reached out to pat Santa's shoulder, who swatted his hand away. "Oh, I know. You're wife is pregnant and all that other stuff..."

Fiona looked shocked. "She's pregnant?!" the sprite exclaimed. "Why didn't I hear about this?"

Scott uncomfortably winced. "Well, you're the Spring Sprite. You're usually busy."

"I have a cell phone!" Fiona yelled, taking the small phone out of one of the leaf-pockets in her dress and waving it in Scott's face. "You could have called me! I would have been here in an instant. Spring's not all year round, you know!"

"Yes, well..." Scott glanced at Jack and tried to smile. "I'm sorry about that. But, with my wife about to go into labor during busy season, it looks like I'm going to need some extra help." He appeared to be a little bit less flustered, as if he had finally decided how to say what was on his mind. "However, by way of the Council, I _do_ have extra help."

"Me!" Jack exclaimed, striking a pose. He had figured out where this was going.

Bernard had, too. "Um, Santa, you're heading a different direction here..."

Scott nodded, his smile looking a bit more genuine. "With Jack around, that will take care of the assistance Fiona would have given. And, now that I think about it-" He turned around and pointed at Curtis. "You need some training experience for when you eventually become Head Elf, don't you?"

Curtis nodded rapidly. "Yep! It'll look good on my Elf Resume!"

Fiona grinned, and Bernard scowled. "Just wait a minute!" he protested.

"Right!" Scott said loudly, still talking to Curtis. "And if you don't to the _duties_ of the Head Elf, how will you know how to in the future?"

"That's true, how?" Fiona asked, playing along. Curtis eagerly nodded some more.

"Plus Jack will need someone to watch him who _doesn't_ throw a fit every time he sees him!" Curtis added. Bernard glared.

"And _therefore,_" Scott spun around to face Bernard again. "I suggest we make Curtis honorary Head Elf and Winter Sprite Watcher this Christmas!"

"What?! Come on!" Bernard yelled.

"All in favor?" Scott asked. He, Jack, Fiona, and Curtis all raised their hands. "All opposed?"

"_NO!"_ Bernard screamed, entirely loosing composure.

"Four to one, the action is carried." Scott's smile turned to a wise little smirk. "And based on _that_ reaction, I'd say Bernard needed a little break time, isn't that right, Head Elf?" He winked at Curtis, who once again nodded like a bobble-head. "So, Fiona, you may go on your vacation. See that Bernard relaxes."

Fiona saluted. "Aye, aye, sir!" She turned and grabbed the hand of Bernard- who was sputtering angrily- and pulled him back towards the sled chamber.

Scott turned to the last two figures still there. "Come on Curtis, Jack. We have work to do!" He marched down the hallway in the opposite direction that Fiona and Bernard had gone down. Curtis followed after him, swinging his arms like a soldier, and Jack mimicked him behind. Just before they turned the corner, the Winter Sprite looked over his shoulder at the back of the protesting elf's retreating head.

_Good._ He thought. _Now that the Elf Miser is gone, maybe I can have a little fun around here..._

Bernard groaned dejectedly, sitting in the sled, waiting for Fiona to ready their departure. "I just know something bad's going to happen..." he mumbled.

Fiona gave him a sideways glance while she fiddled with the tangled up reindeer reins. The reins were some extra ones used only for when the normal ones broke, but since the normal ones hadn't broken in over a millennium, being made by the best Craft Elves the North Pole had, she figured the extra's wouldn't be missed. The sled they were in was extra, too, used for vacations like the one she was going on now.

"You're paranoid. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Don't say that!" Bernard snapped. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'famous last words?' With Jack staying here, I don't know _what_ will happen."

Fiona rolled her eyes and put the mostly untangled reins in her lap. "Aw, _chill_ Bernard," she said, smiling at her corny pun. Bernard groaned again. "Jack's not that bad," she continued. "He did help save me last year, remember? He's nice when he wants to be."

"But what about when he _doesn't _want to be?" Bernard asked. "What about when he wants to be cold and menacing and, well, evil?"

"Bernard H. Elf!" Fiona smacked Bernard in the head, knocking his beret off. "Jack is many things, not in the least mischievous, but he is not evil!"

"So you say." The elf crossed his arms and stared straight ahead, ready for the conversation, and the vacation, to be over. "Are you done with those reins yet?"

The sprite frowned a little bit at the sudden subject change. "Almost. I'm just having trouble with this one knot." She held up the reins, showing Bernard the large, confusing looking bundle of fiber that had gathered itself up in the center of the mess. Bernard took it and, like magic, undid the knot. Fiona smiled and took the reins back. "See! That's why I like you. Now, let me just hook this up to Chad, and we'll be on our way."

"Chad?" Bernard's eyes widened. "Why are we taking him? He's still training to fly!"

"He's gotten better!" Fiona replied, hopping off the sled and heading for the stables. "This'll give him experience." She peered into one of the stalls and smiled. "Hi, sweety!" A long string of warbling, high pitched gibberish flew out of the stall in reply. Fiona smiled and opened the gate, gently leading out a hyperactive, happily rambling young reindeer.

She led him to the front of the sled and attempted to hook the reins up to him. The animal, ecstatic about being taken out, jumped up and down and side to side, squealing with delight and making Fiona's task utterly impossible. Finally, she had to get Bernard to come down and help hold Chad down white she reined him. It took a full twenty minutes, but they did it.

When they were at last sitting back up on the sled seats, Fiona took the reins and smiled at Bernard. "Ready to go?" He reluctantly nodded. She nodded back, and yelled, "Go!", causing Chad to scream and race like a maniac for the exit. Bernard held tight to the sides of the sled to keep from falling off.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." he whispered under his breath. "And I'm not talking about Chad..."

**So, what do you think? Good or corny? Read and review, please!**

**By the way, the H in Bernard H. Elf stands for "Head." Like Head Elf. =)**


	2. Chapter 1: A Last Minute Decision

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I already had a chunk of this chapter that I'd written on file, which is good, because I might have taken longer. I'm a terrible procrastinator. I hope that doesn't make anyone mad, especially the one person who kept telling me to update over and over. Not that I'm mad at them for saying that- I thought that was kind of funny actually. =) I'll try to update sooner next time, but it's best if I write while I'm inspired, not because I have to, or else the story could end up crappy. However (hint hint) if you review some more, I might get a little more inspired... ;D**

**I own nothing but what I own. All else I don't own. So there.**

Chapter 1: A Last Minute Decision

It is Christmas Eve in the North Pole. From an airplane's view, all is calm and still. There is no noise, no lights- the Northern Lights have passed for the day- there's not even a breeze. It seems the picture of serenity.

Inside the Pole itself, the atmosphere is just the opposite.

Elves run to and fro, desperately trying to cool burnt machines with their child-size hydrant guns and salvage broken toys in the stock room. Elf cooks work rapidly to remake ruined cookies in an unmelted oven and fix magical cocoa makers in the kitchen. Elf doctors race in circles around and inside the delivery room, calming Mrs. Clause, cleaning and dressing her baby, and congratulating Santa. Then there was the circus in the factory.

One one side of the large circular toymaking room were all of Santa's relatives. There were his in-laws- Mrs. Claus's parents, Silvia and Bud Newman, who were at the moment still in shock over the fact that their son-in-law was Santa Clause and not a Canadian toymaker, as they once thought. There was Santa's ex-wife Laura, her husband Neil, their son, Charlie, and daughter Lucy, who were celebrating the fact that the two adults were alive. Moments before, Laura and Neil had been frozen solid with little hope of unfreezing. Of course, that wasn't true anymore. They jumped, hopped, skipped, shouted, and danced with the in-laws, who were more than happy to join in since they were still in too much shock to be as serious as they normally were.

In the center of the room were most of the elves, busily remaking toys and fixing machines that had been broken. Most of them were trying hard not to break down from stress, as this was quite literally the last minute before Christmas and they had not been able to fill their quotas in the chaos. Curtis, the temporary head elf, was mourning the fact that Bernard had gone on a vacation down south with Fiona this Christmas (it was more like he was _forced_ to go by Fiona, along with some help from Santa and Curtis, another source of pain and embarrassment for the little elf) and that it was this very Christmas that everything had gone more wrong than they had in centuries at the Pole. He could not wait until the true head elf got back again so that he could relax- at least, as much as a Christmas elf _can _relax.

Then, on the farthest side of the room, up the stairs, was the Council of Legendary Figures in an emergency meeting. So urgent was this meeting, in fact, that they could not meet in a proper room- neither Santa's office, nor the conference room, nor even the kitchen, as they had done earlier. Mother Nature, Father Time, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Cupid all stood in a solemn circle, looking at the subject of their meeting: Jack Frost.

For Jack Frost was the cause of nearly all the trouble this Christmas, not counting the in-laws' revelation and Mrs. Claus's pregnancy. It was him who had broken all the machines, burnt the ovens in the kitchen, destroyed the cocoa makers, frozen Laura and Neil, scared Lucy out of her whits, practically ripped Santa and Mrs. Claus's family apart, used a secret clause only high ranking people in Santa's life knew about to reverse time, and nearly ruined Christmas itself forever.

Yes, all this chaos was his fault, but, at the same time, it wasn't his fault. Jack Frost had done it all, but Jack Frost was not the Jack Frost he had been. Because, unbeknownst to all but a certain few, Laura and Neil's daughter Lucy had magical hugs. Whether this was natural or because Lucy's uncle was Santa was unknown. Whatever the reason, her hugs had the ability to warm people, human and legendary alike. And it was Jack Frost she hugged, and Jack Frost she warmed, and now Jack Frost had changed. He was a brighter, happier sprite.

Instead of the icy blue, freeze-dried hair and frozen pinstripe suit, Jack Frost sported smooth brown hair and a shiny white pinstripe suit. His skin was tanner, and his smile more genuine. For the past hour he had been running around with the elves he had once terrorized, hugging them, apologizing, and pulling minor, harmless jokes and pranks; he might have changed, but he was still a mischievous imp. However, he was truly sorry for his actions, and this was good enough for most of the elves. It seemed all had been taken care of.

There was just one problem. What was to be done with Jack? This is what the Council was trying to decide upon when they summoned the Winter Sprite from his joyful little rounds and stood before him on the landing.

Jack stood with his hands folded behind his back, and a sheepish smile on his face. He looked back and forth between all the faces and hoped somebody would say something soon. Normally he would have said something by now, but his new nicer brain said that it wouldn't be a good idea.

Finally, the Easter Bunny spoke up. "Look, I'm real glad about this 'warmed by a magical hug' business and all," he started, his face betraying the fact that he really wasn't all that glad. "But, hasn't Jack caused enough trouble? I mean, he killed fruit!" He looked around the Council for encouragement. He didn't get any. Ears bending apologetically low on his head, he continued, "I mean... he almost destroyed Christmas! Which is much more important than some fruit of course, but... well, I think we should just banish him from the Council of Legendary Figures once and for all, and just be done with it."

"_I_ disagree," came Cupid's voice. For once, he was not hovering in the air. He decided it might be easier for him to focus if he were on the ground, due to the... ahem... _gravity_ of the situation. Now he turned and faced the Easter Bunny with conviction in his voice. "As much as I hate to say it, old Frost here looks like he's turned over a new leaf, and that's not a fact we can just ignore. I say we give him another chance."

"Oh, yes, I would really appreciate that!" Jack put in, his impish face grinning hopefully.

The Tooth Fairy interrupted before Jack could continue. "You want us to give him another chance? Cupid, we've given him chance _upon_ chance! He might have a new outfit now, but we can't just let him go unpunished for almost destroying the hopes and dreams of kids all over the world waiting for Christmas!"

"Hey, _I _ know about dreams more than anybody," the Sandman said, yawning. "And I think you're taking the wrong view there. I mean, weren't Jack's dreams destroyed just now, too? I know... his..." Sandman's head started to bow. Nobody looked surprised. Mother Nature gently nudged him, and his head popped back up in mid snore. "I know his dreams weren't all that good. More like nightmares, really." He shuddered. Sandman hated nightmares. They were so dank and dark and hopeless. "But all that's over now, right? I'm all for him being able to work on some new dreams. I love working on new dreams. Those are my... favorite... kind..." With those words, he fell asleep again. This time no one woke him, knowing he was done.

"Agreed!" Cupid declared. "Agreed with my whole heart!"

"_Everything's_ with your whole heart, Cupid," the Tooth Fairy retorted.

"Yeah, and maybe we can't ignore Jack's change, but we can't ignore what he's done, either!" the Easter Bunny argued. The four Council members broke out into argument, shouting out bits of logic heavily weighed with silly insults and mentions of times that had nothing to do with the task at hand.

"Well, you're just an old guy in a dress and a diaper!" the Easter Bunny yelled at Cupid.

"Well, what about the time you ran out of chicken eggs for Easter and tried lizard eggs one year?" Cupid yelled back. "_That_ idea _really_ sucked eggs!"

"Oh, how original, Cupid!" the Tooth Fairy snapped sarcastically. "That might have been even better than my Toothinator idea!"

The Sandman snored loudly. Jack frowned and slid back to stand between Mother Nature and Father Time. "This is quite a way of making decisions, hmm?" he whispered to Mother Nature.

Mother Nature shook her head sadly. "They know better. I'll put a stop to this." She raised her hands to say something, but just when she opened her mouth another voice rang out.

"Everybody, _quiet!_"_  
_

Cupid, The Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny snapped their heads up. Sandman heard the yelling and woke up, looking back and forth rapidly before deciding to just look in the direction everyone else was, which was toward Father Time. He was holding his staff up in the air, and seemed ready to hit someone with it. His eyes were wide as if he were surprised at his outburst himself. Finally, he set his staff down and took a deep breath.

"Thank you," he said. "Now, the way I see it, we have two choices. We either say that Jack should have a second chance, because he's not the same anymore; or," he held a finger up, "we say that it doesn't matter if he changed, because what he did can't be ignored, and he should be banished. Now, here's what _I_ have to say." He took another deep breath. He obviously wasn't used to talking this much in one go. "I say, no, we can't ignore what he did."

Jack flinched and took a step back further behind Father Time and Mother Nature. If Father Time decided against him, he would be the winning vote. Father Time eyed him and frowned. "I'm not done yet. No, we can't ignore what he did. He has to pay for it somehow. But why does it have to be with banishment? We have a new, much _better_, in my opinion, Jack here! This is a Jack Frost who could actually _contribute_ to meetings when the old one never did anything! Did you ever think of that?" The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy glanced at each other. It appeared they had not thought about that. "So, I say, yes we should punish him, but no, not with banishment. Find another punishment. Not one that would teach him a lesson, because he's already learned it with that hug he got from Santa's niece. He needs one that would help him to fix what went wrong."

Now he leaned on his staff, evidently done with his speech. Mother Nature smiled and stepped forward. "Thank you, Father Time. I believe you're suggesting that we give him some sort of community service again?"

"We've given him that before!" The Easter Bunny whined.

"Well," Mother Nature countered, "what's he going to do, then?"

On the other side of the factory, in the sled chamber, mechanic elves were preparing Santa's sled for his depart in a few minutes. They had just gotten the reindeer harnessed to the sled when another elf ran in, shouting, "Sled incoming!" The other elves looked up in shock and scrambled to move Santa's sled off of the center platform. They pulled and pushed the reindeer until they had all run forward about ten feet toward the exit of the chamber. The sled was pulled along behind them and cleared the platform just in time for a circular plate in the ceiling to start lowering down to the floor.

All the elves stood back and watched, some in amazement, some in confusion, and some in anger, as the plate slowly revealed who was riding it. Then everyone cheered. "Bernard is back!" they yelled. One of them turned to the one who had run in. "You!" he called. "Go tell Curtis, quick!" The elf nodded and ran off. Meanwhile, the plate had finally lowered to the floor, and its riders were attempting to get situated.

On the plate was a small personal sled that could only fit two people. Those people were, of course, Bernard and Fiona, returned from their Christmas vacation to Australia. Fiona hopped off the sled and ran around to the front to unhitch the reindeer attached there. Childish and random gibbering was heard echoing loudly around the room, and Chet pulled and yanked on his harness to get at Fiona and lick her face like a puppy. She giggled and reached for the strap to unbuckle it, but the baby reindeer just pulled away and jumped some more. She reached again and he pulled again. This went on for several minutes before she finally sighed and said, "It's last week all over again. Can I get some help over here?" A couple elves ran over and helped to hold Chet down while she unbuckled his harness. It still took ten minutes. Finally, she got the last buckle off, and the elves led the gibbering reindeer away.

Fiona sighed and walked back around to the seats of the sled. She bent over to look at the floor, where a tallish elf lay curled up with a blanket over his head. She knelt down with a sweet look on her face, putting her mouth right next to his ear. She puckered her lips for a whisper. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs, "_Wake up Bernard! It's Christmas Eve!"_

Bernard woke up screaming, and leaped like on Olympian out of the sled. "What?! Where?! Is Santa ready?! Are the toys done?!" His beret was sideways on his head and it was a wonder it wasn't falling off. He was wearing a cheesy Hawaiian shirt over his normal outfit. His chest heaved up and down with his shocked gasps. After a second, he took a deep breath and help up his hands like he was telling the world to wait a minute, and turned to Fiona with an irritated expression on his face. "How many times have I told you not to _do _that? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Fiona put on an apologetic pose, folding her hands in front of her and flipping her lashes innocently. "I'm sawwy Bernard." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and he blushed and gently pushed her away, crossing his arms and trying to look strict. She laughed. "I just wanted to see the look on your face. You said you wanted to get here before Christmas after all. It's _before_ Christmas."

Bernard's strict look suddenly vanished. "Wait, you mean it's actually Christmas Eve?"

Before Fiona could answer, the sled chamber doors burst open. In ran the elf who'd run in a little while ago to warn about the sled. Behind him ran Curtis. The little elf's glasses were tilted like Bernard's beret, and he looked stressed out of his mind. He grinned as soon as he saw Bernard. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! You wouldn't believe what I've been through!"

Bernard gave Curtis a slightly superior look, tinged with oncoming stress. "Yeah, being Head Elf wasn't as fun as you thought it would be, huh? Is everything ready? Are the toys done? Santa's coming in a few minutes, right?"

Curtis suddenly looked a bit like Fiona had, folding his hands in front of him and rocking back and forth like he didn't want to say anything. "Well... you see... we've had a few _minor_ issues..."

Bernard's eyes widened. He grabbed Curtis by his arms and shoved his face inches from the little elf's nose. "What. Happened."

Curtis shook a little bit, then spoke at light speed. "The in-laws are here, the exes are here, Mrs. Clause is having a baby, and Jack Frost nearly ruined Christmas." Bernard let go of Curtis so suddenly he dropped to the floor. Then he ran out of the room.

Fiona gaped and ran after him, yelling, "Wait for me! I'm sure we can work this out!"

Curtis stumbled off the floor and ran after them both, also yelling, "The COLF is meeting on the factory landing! Wait!"

The three of them ran down the hallway from the sled chamber, just like on the day the Spring Sprite and Head Elf had left for their vacation last week. Bernard ran like he was in a marathon, and elves still trying to repair damage screamed as they leaped out of the way. They ducked their heads when Fiona dashed past, jumping over the elves who had hit the ground and yelling behind her, "Sorry! Sorry about that!" Then, just when they thought it was safe to get up again, there came Curtis, who was gasping too hard to dodge and who's legs were too short to jump very high, and they all got bowled over again.

They made it to the main factory room and ran all the way around the balcony to get to the landing the Council of Legendary Figures was meeting on. They were still discussing what to do with Jack when the said Winter Sprite dove for cover behind a chair. Mother Nature gave him a confused look, but Sandman was pointing behind her and looking slightly afraid. She turned and saw Bernard standing there with blazing white fury in his eyes. Fiona stood behind him gasping, and Curtis was behind her wheezing.

"The toys are broken," Bernard said with surprising calm. "The cocoa makers are frozen. The Naughty and Nice list printer is going haywire. The ovens are _melted_. Santa's family is dancing around like a bunch of lunatics!" His voice rose now. "What the heck happened here?! What exactly did Jack do to try and ruin Christmas?!"

Fiona tapped his shoulder. "Bernard, I'm sure he didn't _try..._" she said falteringly._  
_

"Um, actually, my dear Fiona..." Jack peeked out from behind the chair. "I did."

"Aha!" Bernard yelled. "See! He-" the elf stopped in confusion. "He's... I mean... you are Jack, right?"

Jack blinked at the unexpected question. "Well, of course I'm Jack! The one and only Jack Frost! Why would you ask a silly question like that?" He stood up and came out from behind the chair. Fiona and Bernard stared.

"What are you wearing?!" Fiona exclaimed. "It looks so weird!"

"Well, not weird per say, but, uh..." Curtis stammered, finally speaking.

The Tooth Fairy spoke for him. "It actually turns out that Santa's niece has magical hugs."

_"What?"_ Bernard asked, while Fiona went, _"Huh?"_

Cupid smiled one of his dramatic holiday smiles. "Whoever she hugs gets warmed by her love. I think it's rather sweet."

"I think it's rather weird!" the Easter Bunny snapped. Fiona and Bernard still looked confused.

"She melted him," Sandman stated, finally answering their looks.

"Melted him!" Fiona yelped. "Oh, no!" She ran over to Jack, feeling his jacket and patting his hair. He gave her a very strange look. "You're not cold anymore! Does that mean you can't be the Winter Sprite? Are your powers gone?"

"No, I'm fine!" Jack replied. "I can still make snow and ice. I just can melt it now, too, and I'm... I don't know... nicer, I guess." He flashed his impish grin. "Not that I wasn't nice before. Now would you mind not patting my head and jacket like that?"

"Sorry," Fiona murmured, looking relieved.

"Now that that's covered," Bernard crossed his arms and looked stern again, but this time for real. "I repeat. What did he do?"

Mother Nature frowned a little bit. "I know you're worried Bernard, but the whole story would take some time to explain."

"I don't have time!" Bernard retorted. "I have something like five minutes until Santa leaves for Christmas!"

Mother Nature summed it up and said, "Then suffice it to say that Jack Frost caused a lot of trouble and stress around the factory in an effort to gain his own holiday, that it was almost fatal to Christmas and to Laura and Neil, and that Santa's niece Lucy ended up giving Jack a magical hug that melted him and made him into a much nicer version of himself."

"And he's sorry now!" Jack added, seeing that Bernard was still angry.

"Well, you might be sorry, but we can't just let this go!" Bernard spread his hands in a sweeping gestures towards the factory. "Look at this place! What are we going to do?"

"That's just what we were deciding," Mother Nature agreed. "We're not going to banish him, since he's a different person now, but he needs to do something to fix what he did before."

"What if he helped get Christmas ready?" Fiona asked. "I don't mean like he was supposed to before, but if someone specifically watched him to make sure that he got work done and helped to get the toys remade, the ovens and cocoa makers fixed, and did a little extra to make sure things were okay?"

"And how exactly is that different from what he did before?" the Easter Bunny asked impatiently.

"We won't just let him go on his own like Curtis probably did." Bernard gave Curtis a look which he shrunk uncomfortably under. "Like Fiona said, we'll have someone specifically watching him to make sure he works and doesn't slack off. He won't get a chance to cause trouble, and he won't stop until all the trouble he has caused is fixed. I don't like the idea of him staying any longer than he already has, but I don't know anything else to do."

Mother Nature smiled. "That sounds about right to me. All in favor?" Jack, Fiona, Bernard, Father Time, Sandman, and Cupid all raised their hands. The Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny looked at each other and the others around them, and after a minute begrudgingly raised their hands, too. "It's unanimous!" Mother Nature said. "Motion carried. And I think that Fiona should do the watching over Jack, since she's the most patient with him, don't you?" The other members nodded and murmured their agreement. "One more thing. I want us all to meet in Santa's office tomorrow. I have a special announcement to make." Everyone looked at her curiously, but she just smiled and left to head to her guest quarters. After a few minutes, everyone else did, too, leaving Jack, Fiona, Bernard, and Curtis on the landing.

"I'm saved!" Jack cheered. He grabbed Fiona and spun her in circles. "Oh, you wonderful sprite, thank you!"

Fiona giggled. "Thank Bernard, too! He supported you." She looked over at Bernard and smiled. "Which, by the way, I'm very proud of him for."

While Bernard tried to keep looking stern and hide a blush, Jack straightened up and looked at him. They both gazed at each other for a few moments. Then Jack stuck out his hand. "Thanks for not telling them to banish me. I don't know why you didn't."

Bernard looked at his hand, then sighed and took it. "I honestly don't know why I didn't either. Maybe I'm glad that you might have changed your attitude some." Jack snorted. "I said _some_. Anyways, try not to cause anymore trouble." He turned to Fiona. "Would you mind taking him to the packaging room so he can help package and stack the presents? I need that bag full in-" he looked at Curtis, who was holding up his stop watch and tapping it worriedly. "Three minutes. Come on, Curtis, we have work to do." With that, he and Curtis rushed one way, and Jack and Fiona glanced at each other with wide eyes and fairly ran the other way.

As they ran, Bernard shouted over his shoulder, "And get your old clothes back!"

Jack snickered and shouted back, "You too! Nice shirt!"

Bernard grunted and looked at himself. He'd forgotten about his Hawaiian shirt. He started pulling it off, grateful that he'd put it on over his other clothes and not instead of them.

Fiona glanced at Jack next to her. "You do have an extra suit, right? And you can still freeze-dry your hair? Please tell yes. This look so does not fit you."

Jack snickered again. "Of course I have extras! What, do you think I never do laundry? And I might be melted, but I'm still the Winter Sprite, so freeze-drying my hair should be easy. Don't you worry your little red head."

Fiona smiled again. "Good. Now I just wonder what Mother Nature has to say to us tomorrow."

**What do you think? Too long? Too little detail? I know this is a lot longer than my other one, so I hope it's not a drag to read. And I'm going to try to get my pictures up for this story and my other one I'm writing. I just don't know exactly when. ^^' Like I said, I'm a procrastinator. **

**Please R&R, and God Bless!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Welcome Clause

**Here's the next part to the story! I'm glad so many people like it. =D I hope the trend continues. I'll do my best to make this a good story.**

**I own nothing but what I own.**

Chapter 2: The Welcome Clause

When Fiona finally got to go back to her guest house, it was late into Christmas morning. There had been no sleep for her that night, between preparing Christmas presents, calming Bernard, keeping contact with Santa as he went on his annual ride, and making sure that Jack kept working. That last part had been much easier than she had expected; it seemed the new Jack wasn't so much of a lazy procrastinator, although he still complained good-naturedly. On the other hand, calming Bernard was much harder than she expected. Normally a hug or a peck could get him to relax for at least a second. This time she was running around frantically with him and trying to keep tabs on Jack. She didn't really have the time or opportunity to get to Bernard. It was only when Santa was halfway through his ride that the Head Elf let himself sit down at one of he small elf-sized tables in the monitoring room, and by then Fiona was so tired that she just laid her head on the table and slept.

Fiona breathed a sigh of relief as she came near the heavily decorated guest houses. The elves had redone much of it over the summer, partially because the construction elves were bored, and partially to compensate for Fiona's kidnapping by the Boogie Man last year. She had a personal house of her own, since she had taken to staying at the North Pole every winter. Her house was a small and quaint one closest to the road. It had Danish designs all over it, in red and green as well as the classic brown. Marigolds, foxgloves, pansies, and larkspurs grew around the door, being hardy flowers that could stand the cold outside of Fiona's special greenhouse. Behind the building were several other guest houses that were being used by the Council of Legendary Figures at the moment. The houses all had similar designs to Fiona's, with different patterns of red, green, and the occasional blue to differentiate them. They were very pretty to look at, and very cozy inside.

The Spring Sprite slowly made her way to her door and leaned against it. She was the last of the Council to go to bed. All the others had gone hours and hours ago. Well, all but Jack.

Fiona glanced behind her. The Winter Sprite was still trudging down the road a little ways behind her. He had a right to go a bit slower- he was the one who had to do most of the work. He gave Fiona a small smile and wave as he passed and continued towards his guest house. Fortunately, it was the one right next to hers. Both sprites fumbled with their doors until they tumbled open. Fiona almost fell flat on the floor.

Quickly grabbing onto a decorative table near the door, she pulled herself up and shut the door behind her. Then she dragged herself to the little bedroom and laid down on the large, soft, beautiful green bed. Within seconds she was asleep.

By the time Fiona woke the next morning, it was almost afternoon. Her eyes flew open and she glanced at the sugarplum alarm clock on her side desk. It read 10:30. With a small scream, the Spring Sprite leaped out of bed and dashed to get dressed. In ten minutes, she was running full-speed out of the house, wearing a green sweater and black sweatpants, with a doughnut half in her mouth. The COLF _never_ met after 11:00, because they all had work to do for the seasons. The guest houses were towards the back of the north pole, and she had twenty minutes to make it on time.

Elves preparing their mid-morning duties smirked as they saw the sprite, who had looked half-dead only last night, running past them like she had jet boosters on her feet. A few of them cheerfully called their good mornings, only to have Fiona choke out a wheezy "HI!" as she blazed by.

So focused was she on moving forward as fast as spritely possible, she didn't even notice when she reached the factory in three-quarters of the time it normally took her and she slammed face-first into the wall. She was so shocked that she just stood there pressed against the wall for a minute. Then she felt a little hand on her arm, gently pulling her away and turning her around. "Are you alright?" a sweet, if not a bit amused, voice asked.

Fiona blinked and rubbed her head. Judy the Cocoa Elf stood in front of her with her usual tray of specially made cocoa, waiting patiently for an answer. She was one of the smaller elves, with a pixie-esque glitter in her eye and a tall pointed purple hat that looked like the type of thing a princess would wear. She wore a red dress with white fuzzy lining and purple ribbon and decorative baubles and embroidery all over. Judy had a look on her face like she couldn't decide whether she was tickled or concerned with the sprite's antics.

"Umm..." Fiona mumbled, wobbling just a bit. She held her arms out to steady herself. "I... I think I'm okay. I'm just in a hurry to get to the Council meeting, that's all, Judy."

The little elf nodded understandingly. "I see... you know it starts in five minutes, right?"

Fiona's eyes widened. She squeaked and ran through the door, this time remembering to open it instead of running into the wall. Behind her, Judy called, "It's in Santa's office!" The Cocoa Elf giggled and continued on her daily rounds, offering cocoa to other elves.

In Santa's office, the Council of Legendary Figures all sat in a circle in their usual red velvet chairs. All of them besides Fiona were there, and they were all looking at the empty chair by Jack. Except for Father Time- he was looking at a large, gold, heavily ornamented watch that he usually kept inside his thick coat. By the door, Curtis and Bernard stood impatiently, having been called to the meeting by Mother Nature. Curtis was holding tightly to the handle of a shiny mahogany cart, laden with the large North Pole rule-book. Santa might be able to lift that thing by himself, but not Curtis, who was barely four feet tall.

Jack was looking much like his old self again. He had re-freeze-dried his hair and eyebrows, so they were stiff and icy again. Also, he was wearing one of his extra frozen pinstripe suits. Except for his much tanner and more human-looking skin, which nothing could be done about, he looked pretty much normal.

"Five..." Father Time whispered, staring intently at his watch. "Four... three... two... one!" He looked up at the others. "Fiona is officially late."

Mother Nature nodded. "Alright, we'll have to start without her. Let's-" At that moment, the door was thrown open, and Fiona raced in. Curtis gasped as the sprite tripped at lightning-speed over his cart and flipped like a gymnast over the book. She tumbled forward, unable to get her footing, and hit her empty chair. Everyone once again looked down at the chair, this time lying sideways on the floor with a dazed Fiona draped over it.

"I'm here..." she moaned, raising her arm like a student in class during roll call.

The others looked at each other. "Oh dear..." Mother Nature said concernedly, raising a hand to her mouth to hide a smile.

Bernard ran over to Fiona. "Are you okay?" he exclaimed. "Did you break something?"

"That was some fall there!" the Easter Bunny commented.

"Best entrance I've ever seen!" Jack Frost declared, laughing.

"The rule-book!" Curtis yelped. He struggled to lift the giant thing off the floor. "Someone help me lift it up!"

"The Toothinator to the rescue!" the Tooth Fairy called out as he flew over to help Curtis with the book.

"Awwww..." Cupid sighed, watching Fiona and Bernard. "I love it when moments like this happen, when the girl gets hurt and the guy comes over to help. Not that I want you hurt, Fiona! I mean, this is just one of the best times for my arrows to take affect, and..."

Sandman snored.

"Guys?" Santa tried to get everyone's attention in vain. "_Guys?"_

Finally, Fiona sat up and yelled, "Guys!" Everyone finally stopped talking and looked at her. "I'm fine, okay? We should probably start the meeting!" She stood up and righted her chair, smiling at Bernard, who was still standing by her like a worried puppy.

"Thank you," Santa chuckled when she sat down. "Mother Nature?"

Mother Nature blushed a little bit. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "Calming people down should have been my job. It was just- that _was_ quite an entrance, Fiona."

The sprite smiled sheepishly. "Heh... um, sorry. Woke up late. Won't happen again."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Jack gave her a playful punch on the arm. "I've come to meetings _much_ later than this!"

Father Time narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes, and you almost got banished for it." Jack choked back his laughter and ended up coughing awkwardly. Fiona looked down at the floor.

Mother Nature rolled her eyes and swatted at Father Time. "Oh, boo! Don't scare them, they're not in trouble. This is supposed to be a _happy_ meeting."

The Council members looked at each other thoughtfully. The Easter Bunny crossed his arms. "Yeah, and what's this meeting about, anyway?" Mother Nature merely smiled and nodded at Curtis, who had finally gotten the rule-book back onto the cart. The little elf began to slowly pull the cart over to the center of the room. He was already huffing and puffing from his last strenuous effort, and it was a slow progression. After a minute, Bernard stomped over and started pushing the cart on the other side, practically propelling Curtis backward onto the rule-book. Jack snickered. Fiona kicked him.

"If you could please find me the seasonal section that I asked you about earlier," Mother Nature asked politely. Curtis immediately started flipping forward in the book. The look on his face grew more and more confused as he couldn't find what he was looking for. Bernard sighed and grabbed a huge wad of paper, flipping way over to the beginning of the book.

Curtis glared at Bernard, then scanned the page. He blinked. "Oh." Jack started to snicker again, but Fiona stopped him with a look.

Mother Nature took a step and the two elves got out of her way. She bent over the page and read aloud, "According to the Council of Legendary Figures Chapter, section 40, subsection Seasonal Member Roster, All of the most important figures of legendary empowerment and seasonal design can, will, and rightly _must_ become a member of the Council of Legendary Figures. No personage may be discluded from this roster except in emergencies including banishment and personal dilemmas." She looked up from the book. None of the faces staring back at her seemed the least bit surprised.

"Uh, I don't mean to be rude, but..." the Tooth Fairy waved his arms in a sweeping gesture. "Don't we already know that?"

Jack shrugged. "I was hardly ever here before, and I knew that."

Santa gave Mother Nature a confused look. "Is there something that you're trying to get at? I'm not sure I follow."

Fiona gulped and asked, "This isn't about me leaving the North Pole all those years when the last Santa was here, is it?"

Mother Nature shook her head patiently. "No, no. I told you, no one's in trouble. This is a happy meeting, and that was categorized as a personal dilemma on your part. Now, I'm sure everyone agrees that all the important Legendary Figures are here, right?" The other Council members nodded and murmured their general agreement. "Well, I can assure you that we're missing at least _two_ important Legendary Figures." The group gasped.

"Two? We're really missing two people?" Cupid exclaimed. "I don't see how-" he looked over at Sandman for support, and was the first to realize that he had been asleep this whole time. Quickly, as if he'd done it all the time, he pulled out of of his arrows and tickled Sandman's nose with one of the back feathers on the shaft. Sandman suddenly exploded into a sneezing fit, falling out of his chair.

The Easter Bunny, Cupid, Jack Frost, and the Tooth Fairy laughed hysterically, and Santa tried to stifle his own laugh. Sandman picked himself drowsily off the floor. "Hey, now.." he complained in a fuzzy voice. "That wasn't very nice."

"People! People!" Mother Nature rapped her small staff, which was basically a shorter copy of the staff that Father Time had, against the cart. "Why are you so restless today? Maybe it wasn't a good idea to hold the meeting so soon after yet another Christmas emergency."

Bernard coughed. "_Ahem..._ Mother Nature? Could we get to the point, please? I have work to do."

"Yes, Bernard, I know," Mother Nature complied. "I'll do my best- _if_ everyone will pay attention!" She eyed her Council members. All of them sat up straight and folded their hands in semi-serious humility. It was so comical to see them all do this at the same time, Mother Nature had to smile again. "That's better. Now, as I was saying, we are missing two important Legendary Figures that I know of. Would everyone like to know who they are?" Everyone nodded in unison- this time making Mother Nature chuckle a little. "Alright. Bernard, would you please open the door to let them in?"

Bernard and Curtis blinked. "Ma'am," Curtis started. "We didn't see anyone new here when we walked in."

"And, since I'm in charge, I usually know when someone new comes in," Bernard agreed.

Mother Nature just nodded her head towards the door. The two elves looked at each other, and Curtis shrugged. Bernard rolled his eyes and went to the door. He took the handle and frowned, obviously not expecting anyone there. Then he pulled the door open. "Gaah!" he yelled, jumping back. "There's people there!" He stood gasping and holding a hand over his heart.

Fiona started to get up to go to him, but stopped when she saw who was on the other side of the door. "Sunny?!" She turned to Jack. "Did you know she was coming?"

The Winter Sprite was staring in shock. "No, I had no idea! I haven't seen her in years!"

They both gaped at the doorway, where stood two sprites still sprinkling with gold dust, as if they'd just appeared out of thin air. One was a girl, and one was a boy, and they both looked slightly bored, slightly irritated, and slightly confused.

The girl had bright blonde hair that faded into orange, and flowed in spiky wisps off her head like it was on fire. She had a headband covered with red and yellow flower petals. Her clothes looked like they had been made entirely from nature- her shirt was a weaved grass top that reached below her waist and tied with brown twine, with large puffy blossoms as the sleeves. Her leggings were made from moss-fleece, which was like a mossy version of wool, and she wore boots and gloves made of green leaf leather. Her eyes were gold, with hazel marks.

The boy had dirty blonde hair that had large streaks and patches of earthy brown. Like the girl, his clothes were very naturalistic He wore a leaf-leather vest and pants, made from golden brown fallen leaves. He had an undershirt made of yellowed weaved grass, with sleeves that reached to his elbow. He had pockets on his vest and his pants with silk handkerchiefs in them, and freckles up and down his arms and cheeks. His eyes, also like the girl's, were gold with hazel marks.

"Council," Mother Nature held her hand out to the sprites. "I'd like you to meet Sunny Ray Leafson, and Erick Leafson, the Summer and Fall Sprites, and the new additions to our group."

The girl lifted up her hand. "Um, you don't have to say the 'Ray' part. I'm like, the only sprite in the world with a middle name." She and the boy stepped into the room. Cupid and the Tooth Fairy quickly moved their chairs over and scooted a couple of others in for them, which they sat down in. Before they could, though, they were ambushed by Fiona.

The Spring Sprite gave the girl a huge bear hug. "Sunny! I haven't seen you in so long! Where have you been? When did you become the Summer Sprite? And, since when did you have a brother?! You never told me about him!"

Sunny laughed and hugged Fiona back. "Hi, Fiona! I know, it's been years, hasn't it?" They parted and looked each other over. "You're still as pretty as ever, Fi."

Fiona giggled. "Thanks, Sunny. You're looking good, too. I love what you did with your hair."

"Oh, this?" Sunny pushed her fingers through the shiny yellow locks. "Thanks. It took me forever to find the right combination of dehydrating and sun-bleaching to get it this way." Her brother nudged her with his elbow. She quickly put her hands behind her back. "Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't seen you in so long. I was doing seasonal training. You know, for being a Summer Sprite. Erick had to, too, but he was partway through it when I met you after _your_ training, which is why you didn't meet him. I hadn't begun yet at that time."

"Oh, right," Fiona mused, putting a finger to her chin. "I'd forgotten that seasonal training took a while. It's been so long since I did it. Nice to meet you, Erick." She held her hand out. The other sprite looked at it for a minute, then silently shook it, with an emotionless look on his face. This struck Fiona as a bit odd, but she didn't comment on it. "Oh, and Sunny, you remember Jack."

She turned and motioned towards Jack, who had stayed sitting this whole time with a bit of a grimace on his face. Fiona frowned and looked at Sunny. She wore a similarly disgusted expression. "Oh... Jack," she greeted with a politely impolite voice. "How... _interesting_... to see you."

"Same to you," Jack mumbled. "Hothead."

Sunny put her hands on her hips. "Well, if you think I'm hot, I have no problem with that."

Jack's eyes lit up, and he opened his mouth and started to stand. Santa quickly held him back. Sunny smirked, but Fiona just looked disappointed. "I see your rivalry hasn't grown any friendlier over the centuries..."

"Someone willingly had a rivalry with Jack?" the Tooth Fairy asked. "That's like asking for a death note!"

"I should know," Santa put in.

Jack glowered. "Well, it's not like I asked her to be that way! She just decided that since we're the opposite kind of sprite, we _must_ be enemies!"

"_I _decided?" Sunny snapped. "Who was the one that poured ice on my head in the Ancient Sprite Hollows?"

"You melted all of the frost I was practicing on just before I did my final Winter Test in front of the Elder Sprites!" Jack shot back.

"You froze my bed!"

"You turned my icebox into a fireplace!"

Mother Nature slammed her hand down onto the cart the rule-book was on."I will have you both ejected from this meeting if you don't settle down!" she declared loudly. "This is supposed to be a happy introductory meeting, not one for you to continue your rivalry in! If you can't handle that, you won't be here." Jack and Sunny continued to glare daggers at each other, but the Summer Sprite turned and went back to her seat.

Erick was already sitting in his, poking at the leaves in his vest. It didn't look as if he'd noticed the argument at all. He suddenly glanced up and made a weird look. Fiona was about to ask him about this, but then he grabbed a handkerchief from one of his pockets and sneezed into it. It was loud, long, and sounded like a dying goose's honk. Everyone stared at him, too surprised to even laugh.

Fiona took their distraction as an opportunity to sit in her own seat. This certainly was _not_ the meeting she had expected. Sure, she was happy to see Sunny, but the girl hated Jack's guts, and Jack returned the feeling. Even though Sunny hadn't been a complete Summer Sprite at the time she'd met Jack, she was still a sun sprite, which contrasted directly with the type of sprite Jack was; a moon sprite. Sun sprites and moon sprites generally disliked each other.

Fiona and Erick were both twilight sprites, which were neutral and friendlier than others. This should have given Fiona something in common with Sunny's brother, but so far he'd only seemed strange to her. His robotic attitude- except for when he had an explosive sneeze- totally set her off. Sprites were always very dramatic, showing their emotions or whatever emotion they were pretending to have (like Jack for most of this last Christmas) with passion and gusto. She didn't know what to think about this suddenly shy, quiet, very _un_dramatic boy.

A human could just tell themselves that they barely knew the person, and that they might not be as weird as they seem. It was different for sprites. A sprite's first impression truly was _everything_. A sprite could tell a lot about another with very few ques. They could tell the type, personality, and certain interests and quirks in just the few seconds. And in the few seconds Fiona had spent with Erick, he'd struck her as something very, very different- and not entirely a good different. She couldn't figure him out.

This was going to be a long day...

**Okay, I _finally_ finished this chapter! I just kept getting interested in other things. It's almost painful. I like writing this story, but I have so many other stories that I want to put up and I can't because they're not finished and the stories I have up aren't finished and I'm afraid I'll just never finish anything! (gasp gasp) Which is why I'm limiting myself to three stories at a time until I finish one. But it's going to be soooo long until I do. Like, right now I'm writing a story for The Penguins of Madagascar's Dr. Blowhole, but I can't post it yet, because none of my other stories are done.**

**So, please R&R. The more reviews I get, the more confidence, and maybe more inspiration and faster chapters. And I do appreciate advice and ideas, too. If descriptions are too much, or not enough, or talking too much, or grammatical issues, blah blah blah.**

**I guess I should work on my other stories I have out now too, huh? Wellll... I just got this one out... maybe I can rest a teeny weeny bit before getting a Sonic chapter out. Maybe.**

**I hope you like the story so far! God Bless!**


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